Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2014 - Page 22

Metro Magic
Dig no more. The
tunnelling effort of the
western metro line is done
and stations are under
way. Next stop: the grand
opening of the metro at
the end of 2015!
Niittykumpu metro centre.
All and all, the western expansion will
introduce eight stations, Koivusaari
and Lauttasaari in Helsinki, and
once the metro crosses over to Espoo,
there are six stations like pearls on a
string: Keilaniemi, Aalto University,
Tapiola, Urheilupuisto, Niittykumpu
and Matinkylä.
M
atti Kokkinen, CEO of Länsimetro
Oy, reports that excavations are now
99% complete – and final stretch
will be covered in January 2014. In the construction projects at the coming metro stations, retaining wall elements have been in-
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stalled over a stretch of seven kilometres
by this time. Construction is proceeding in
parallel in the metro tunnels and at four stations, and soon all stations will be under
construction.
“The Aalto University station is coming along very nicely and the Keilaniemi station is not that far behind”, says Kokkinen.
Tapiola and Matinkylä are following suite
and the stations at Urheilupuisto and Niittykumpu are still waiting in the wings, waiting for a bidding contest.
Niittykumpu is a special enough case,
since it was only a tentative addition to the
lineup – until the final green light for the
station was received at the end of October
2013.
“From the start, we had been preparing
to feature Niittykumpu along the line and are
glad that it’s official now,” Kokkinen says.
As Big As They Come
The metro project has been a long time coming and quite some time in the works, too –
but it’s very satisfying to see the fruit of all
that hard labour finally taking shape. After
all, this is the single biggest infrastructure project in Finland right now – and not
likely to be eclipsed very soon, says Olavi
Louko, Deputy Mayor for the City of Espoo.
“Projects of this magnitude and impact don’t surface very often. We’ve taken